Brisbane has become home to Queensland’s first three-hat restaurant, with Esquire joining elite company nationwide at the 2012 brisbanetimes.com.au Queensland Good Food Guide awards and launch last night.

An institution in Sydney and Melbourne, where the Good Food Guide has been published by the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age since the early 1980s, 2012 marks the first year a full guide has been released in Queensland. In previous years an online-only version has been published.

At last night’s awards, a total of 53 chef’s hats were bestowed on restaurants from Brisbane to Toowoomba to Port Douglas. Individual awards were announced in 14 categories, with Esquire, the state's only three-hat restaurant, claiming the title of Vittoria Coffee Restaurant of the Year

Related Content

Run by Cameron Murchison and Ryan Squires (Squires is also executive chef), Esquire opened last July on riverside Eagle Street to critical applause. The degustation restaurant was described by Sydney Morning Herald critic Terry Durack to his readers as ‘‘the best restaurant in Australia you’ve never heard of’’.

Advertisement

In winning the coveted three-hat status, Esquire is elevated into a group of just 10 Australian restaurants on the same level (five restaurants were awarded three hats in the 2012 Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide, while four were given the rating in the 2012 The Age Good Food Guide).

Esquire is the ''perfect example of the modern three-hatted restaurant and the direction dining is heading,'' 2012 Queensland Good Food Guide editor Natascha Mirosch said.

''The food is of an incredibly high quality, from provenance to preparation, yet the restaurant is neither hideously expensive nor intimidating, either in atmosphere or attitude.''

Ms Mirosch said the launch of the Guide coincided with a maturation of Queensland's hospitality industry.

‘‘We’ve all been complicit in part of an unspoken rule to talk about hospitality in a positive way in Brisbane because when it comes down to it most of us love Queensland,'' she said.

''And we desperately want our restaurant industry to equal everything else here. Unfortunately parochialism, while practised with the best intentions, is maybe preventing the industry from reaching its full potential.''

Ms Mirosch said she and her team of reviewers had spent the past few months conducting a ''culinary census'' of Queensland.

''I can say without reservation that now the change that has been threatening to blow in for so long has finally arrived. Finally, finally we have come of age and we’ve realised that we need to create our own style here in Brisbane rather than trying to emulate other cities.

''Brisbane’s never been a more exciting place than it is right now for food and the Guide’s come at the perfect time to document that.''

''I’ve had the opportunity to sniff around up here and have a look at what the scene was like and when I went back home [to Sydney] everybody said, 'Well, how’s Queensland?' And I said 'Queensland rocks','' he said.

Kym Machin, whose sudden departure from Urbane to Spring last month took Brisbane's restaurant industry by surprise, was named the Citibank Chef of the Year.

He appeared lost for words but thanked ''everyone that has supported us and has supported me and believed in what I’ve done''.

Ms Mirosch described Mr Machin as ''one of Brisbane's most talented chefs''.

''He's certainly one of the most dedicated - going to extraordinary lengths to source the best produce, even if it means commissioning a farmer to grow it for him.

''Maturity has bought another depth to his cooking. I reckon we will only see the rise and rise of this extraordinary chef.''

Esquire's Ryan Squires, in accepting the Restaurant of the Year award, said the Guide was a ''great organisation that’s finally come to Queensland''.

''It actually feels that we’re rubbing shoulders with the nation’s best which is fantastic,'' he said.

The brisbanetimes.com.au Queensland Good Food Guide 2012 is on sale from today, May 1 at bookstores, newsagents and online. Recommended retail price is $24.95. The guide is also available as an app through the iTunes store for $8.99. An online version is available for $8.99.